Monday, March 30, 2015

I was recently afforded the opportunity to have Gadzooks! A Comically Quirky Audio Book reviewed by BookLife which is an online product from Publishers Weekly http://booklife.com/pwreview/198320I considered this as a real accomplishment since Publishers Weekly receives thousands of requests for reviews. Just this week, I was contacted by BookLife with an additional honor: a post which included a blurb about my studio, Straight to Audio Productions

Publishers Weekly and BookLife are premier organizations when it comes to the world of publishing, so I've been so honored by their kind attention. To learn more about great book reviews, check out Publishers Weekly http://www.publishersweekly.com/ and BookLife http://booklife.com/

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Have you ever received an
e-mail indicating someone has “added you to their Google Circles?”
My response is to check out their profile, and if they don't appear
to be a serial killer, I accept their invitation. But I'm not really
sure what I'm signing up for.

After reading through the
website, I came away with the understanding Google Circles are kind
of like a polite “alert” mechanism which allows those in the
“Circle” to receive posts that have been shared with other
members online.

There appears to be an
option which allows the person generating the post to share it with
everyone, or just a few select people. Conversely, the program also
allows users to create different circles to receive different kinds
of content.

How does all this affect me?
I'm still not sure. I continue to accept invitations and select the
“public” option when I post on my blog, but whether or not anyone
is alerted to the fact remains a mystery. Nonetheless, I believe
Google has it's heart in the right place, creating a program that,
when understood and used correctly, could be a great way to
communicate with different groups of people.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

According
to the Audio Publishers Association, the audio book industry is
growing at a rapid rate. The number of titles being produced doubled
between 2012 and 2013. Retail sales during 2013 were estimated at
$1.3 billion. One of the companies responsible for this huge
increase is Blackstone Audio http://www.blackstoneaudio.com

Blackstone
Audio offers more than 10,000 audio book titles, making it one of the
nation's largest independent publishers in the industry. In addition
to recording and releasing their own audio books, Blackstone also
works on productions from Hachette, HarperCollins and Christian
Audio.

Besides
producing physical audio book products, Blackstone also offers a
digital download service called Downpour.com http://www.downpour.com/

My
personal belief is that digital downloads are the wave of the future,
and that physical products will eventually become antiquated.

My
association with Blackstone Audio began with my appearance as a guest
on a podcast called “Get Behind Me, Now Stay There”
www.justimagineitink.com
which is recorded at the Blackstone Audio studios in Ashland, Oregon.
Hosts of the show are Edward C. Stanton, President of Just
Imagine It Ink, KSKQ 89.5FM radio personalities Maya Seligman
and Holly Lorien Adams, New York correspondent and voice over artist
Chrissy McIntyre, Blackstone Audio employees Cyrus Emerson
(producer), and Jerry Renfrow (recording engineer). In addition to
talking with people in the audio book industry, the
show also features interviews with musicians, actors and artists and
even “just the guy down the street.”

The
moderators of “Get Behind Me, Now Stay There” have been gracious
enough to invite me back on the show next month to discuss the
upcoming Audies Competition. In the world of audio books, the top
honors are called Audies. Blackstone Audio has four original titles
which are up for Audies this year, and have worked on numerous
projects for other companies which are finalists as well
http://audiopub.org/Audies15/2015_Audie_Awards_Release.pdf

I
predict the audio book industry will continue its upward spiral.
Although my company, Straight to Audio Productions, is a just small
speck in the stream of the audio book business, I benefit from the
success of Blackstone Audio. Through their efforts to promote the
art of the spoken word, the amount of people listening to audio books
has increased for everyone. Here's wishing Blackstone Audio and all
the other finalists the best of luck at this year's Audies
Competition!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Save
March 18, 2015 at the Rose Theater for a chilling night of cinema
about the rise and continued reign of Warren Jeffs. The film, based on the book Prophet's Prey by Sam Brower, premiered at Sundance to rave reviews and will be screened as part of
the THROUGH THE LENS series hosted by Doug Fabrizio and KUER’s
Radio West at 7pm at the Rose Wagner Theater.

Photographs
from the film by Olivia Fougeriol will be for sale to benefit an
ongoing Private investigative fund for outreach and continued
investigations/allegations with the FLDS Church and Warren Jeff’s
mandates from prison.

Director
Amy Berg will be in attendance at the screening. Private investigator
and author Sam Brower will be at the screening and signing copies of
his book by the same title PROPHET’S PREY .

Special
thanks to Tommy McCarthy, Jim Dabakis, Patricia Vayda, Valter Nassi,
Dan Fischer and Donna and Michael Weinholtz for being the first
funders of this film three years ago and to St Regis for hosting an
outreach conversation with Jon Krakauer and Sam Brower during
Sundance

Many
people saw the film at Sundance and have asked how to help. You can
spread the word for our March 18th screening at the Rose, buy a
photograph or make a donation to the Prophets Prey outreach efforts.
The Utah Film Center is proud to act as fiscal sponsors on this film
and donations can be made to Utah Film Center: attn Prophets Prey 122
South Main Street SLC 84101.

Prophet's
Prey will air on SHOWTIME in October. In the meantime, check out the
book by Sam Brower:

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

I recently had the pleasure of
listening to The Confession by John Grisham as an audio book.
The story is about a young, African American man named Donte Drumm
who has been wrongly convicted of raping and killing a classmate.
Drumm is facing execution by lethal injection in Texas when the real
killer steps forward and confesses the crime to a minister.

The race to justice is thwarted by a
number of nefarious characters within the criminal justice system.
Drumm is eventually executed and the city he lives in erupts into
chaos. At times, this audio book actually made me cry. Part of this
is due to my own frustration with corruption within the judicial
system, and part is due to Grisham's ability to connect with me
through his stories.

I was surprised when I read the
Publishers Weekly review of The Confession which really
roasted this story. The review talked about Grisham's “slump”
which I've been unaware of. It also called the plot of The
Confession “subpar.” Everyone is certainly entitled to their
opinion, but I strongly disagree with this one
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-52804-7

Not only was Grisham able to get me to
really care about the characters in The Confession, but I
found the plot to be interesting and exciting. Grisham also finds a
way to make some important points about the flaws in execution
system, noting that innocent people are sometimes wrongly killed.

The Confession is narrated by
Scott Sowers who has an amazing career in film and live theatre. I
was impressed by how Sowers was able to give voice to such a wide
range of characters with different ethnicities and backgrounds. To
learn more about Sowers, check out his website:
http://www.scottsowers.com/

About Me

Adele
Park is an Audie Award Winning Author, Producer and Editor. Park
worked as a TV and radio reporter, news anchor and on-air personality
for more than 20 years. In 2008, Park formed Straight to Audio
Productions L.L.C. and opened a recording studio in St. George, Utah.